the Fly Clone Project

My Son has been looking at a USED Parker Fly Bass FB-4 at the Local Guitar Shop...
We have even thought of doing a few trades & paying the difference.
Bad Part They want $3800 for the slick little bass.

I could find a nice Alembic for that kind of money.

Found out some information about the serial # here on The Fly Clone, Thank You Very Much BTW..

I assume it has a six-digit serial # but for sure it has a carbon fiber coated neck, Made by Washburn.

My Son has a new Ibanez Workshop EHB 1000S + a Ibanez Sound Gear SR300 + Jackson JPB-7 Namm Show #7 Bass & a Steinberger XP-2 Bass + about 30+ guitars or more, lost count on those guitars.

We will go by and play it again, maybe tomorrow?? Who Knows & check on that Night Fly Neck for a member here as well... I won't forget...

My Son thinks this MIGHT BE the best Bass Guitar He has ever played YET! Lightweight & has a neck profile & width closer to a guitar than a bass.

%$@* Should have bought him that Alembic Spoiler for $800 a few years back, the pickups were worth that BTW...
I blew this photo UP & see 092090 USA = Refined Fly Bass made by Washburn In Illinois

^^^ ^^^ ^^^

"I blew this photo UP & see 092090 USA = Refined Fly Bass made by Washburn In Illinois"

Can anyone confirm that FB-4's were "BUILT" in Illinois? The way I heard it is they were "fire sales" from MA? Any confirmation?

There were some FB-4s sold by USM, and I can confirm that at least one dated 2006 (not mine though). Ken has described the process for building a Fly Bass, which required a press among other things—I would not be surprised if the FB-4 basses sold by USM were all finished in Illinois but made in Wilmington…but I can’t confirm that though I can confirm that the first few years of USM-era Flys (2004-2005+) were made in Wilmington and finished in Illinois. The introduction of that other P-Series Fly bass in 2006 leads me to believe that the FB4s sold by USM were made in Wilmington.

Can anyone give me a ballpark guesstimation of my Fly Bass 4's present market value, ballpark..? Serial #: 0303145, bloody red, in great condition, with Parker gig case.

I hate to let it go, as I'm toying with the idea of releasing it into the possession of a highest bidder. (Almost literally back-bumping into Ken Parker when gawking at one of his archtops at the Healdsburg Guitar Show years ago, he strongly admonished me to hold onto it, and thoroughly explained why, citing his litigation with the party to whom he'd sold the bass' production rights.) Anyway, I'm most always playing the double upright; the Parker really should be played more often.
Thanks for any kind pointers that you can share .

Hi @jazzwalk and welcome!

You probably have noticed a few sitting on Reverb in the $3,500 price range—they have been there a long time it seems, and I don’t anticipate them selling at that price. I paid about $2000 for mine back in April 2018 and I thought that was a pretty fair price. We’ve seen some folks here who have scooped up FB-4s for much lower than that ($1450+ etc), and if you asked about $2,500 for one you might get that much sooner than later—a little difficult to say. The “Parker demand” surely seems to be higher for Flys than Fly basses.

I hope this helps! You’re certainly welcome to sell
yours in our Classifieds section if you’d like.

Thanks, vjmanzo; this is exactly the kind of info I was hoping for. Thanks in advance for any links to anyone who's seriously interested, and I'll definitely consider making a classifieds post.

It's been a year since anyone posted here, and having just bought an FB-4 in excellent condition, I thought I'd post my experience.

The Seller on Reverb had originally asked $3400 USD when they posted the bass a year ago. They then did an $800 price cut in 8/24.

I negotiated a total price w/ shipping of $2125. YMMV - assuming you can find one.

I'm heading up to New England next weekend, and driving directly past Ken's shop on my way to see family. I am however resisting the stalker-esque urge to stop in and ask the man to sign it!

RbtCFuller wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2024 4:42 pm I'm heading up to New England next weekend, and driving directly past Ken's shop on my way to see family. I am however resisting the stalker-esque urge to stop in and ask the man to sign it!

Do it!!

Fox wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2024 6:37 pm Do it!!

I just couldn't - though I did (of necessity) drive semi-by his workshop, as you can't drive into town without doing so